LESSON FIVE TRUSTING IN GOD ALONE - Part Two
Jim's Note: As Bob and Gail pointed out last week, Genesis 16 takes place after the animal sacrifice & covenant ritual but BEFORE the event where The Lord comes to Abram.
Genesis 17:15. God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai you wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."
REVIEW
Read Genesis 16:1-12. The Voice
1 Despite God’s promise, years went by. Still Abram’s wife Sarai remained childless. But she did have an Egyptian servant girl whose name was Hagar. Sarai had an idea so she approached her husband.
Sarai (to Abram): 2 You can see that the Eternal One has still not allowed me to have any children. Why don’t you sleep with my servant girl? Maybe I could use her as a surrogate and have a child through her!
Abram listened to Sarai and agreed to follow her plan. 3 After they had lived 10 years in Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took her servant girl Hagar, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. 4 So Abram slept with Hagar. It was not long before she conceived. But as soon as she knew she was pregnant with Abram’s child, Hagar’s attitude changed and she became haughty toward Sarai. 5 Sarai would not tolerate her servant looking down on her, so she approached Abram again.
Sarai (to Abram): This is all your fault. I allowed my servant girl to be intimate with you, and as soon as she saw she was pregnant with your child, she started behaving arrogantly and disrespectfully toward me! I have done nothing to deserve this. Let the Eternal One judge who is in the wrong here—you or me!
Abram (to Sarai): 6 Sarai—look, she’s still your servant girl. Do whatever you want with her. She’s under your control.
So Sarai clamped down on Hagar severely, and Hagar ran away. 7 The Special Messenger of the Eternal One found Hagar alone by a spring of water out in the desert. It was the spring of water along the road that went to Shur.
Special Messenger: 8 Hagar, Sarai’s servant girl? Where have you come from, and where are you planning to go?
Hagar: I am running away from my mistress, Sarai!
Special Messenger: 9 Hagar, go back to your mistress, and change your attitude. Be respectful, and listen to her instructions. You’re pregnant, and you need to go home. 10 Trust me: I am going to give you many children and many descendants, so many you won’t be able to count them!
11
Look, you are pregnant,
and you’re going to have a son.
I want you to call him Ishmael
because the Eternal One has heard your anguished cries.
12
Just to warn you, though:
Ishmael, your son, is going to be a wild and rowdy man;
he’ll put his fist in every face,
And everyone will turn against him,
and he will live at odds with all of his relatives.
The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved
REACTION
7. How did God extend grace to Abram, Sarai, and Hagar? (Where did Hagar come from?)
8. In what ways can you identify with Sarai's plight? When have you been tempted to move ahead of God's plans?
9. What does this story reveal about God's sovereign control over all the events in your life?
10. What does this story say about how God can use you in spite of the mistakes you make?
11. Why is it often easier to run from the problems rather than face them?
12. How can you depend on God to help you deal with a current situation?
